Encana said to prepare for sale of Deep Panuke this year

7/18/2014

Encana said to prepare for sale of Deep Panuke this year

SCOTT DEVEAU and REBECCA PENTY

CALGARY, Alberta (Bloomberg) -- Encana Corp. is preparing to sell its Deep Panuke offshore project in Nova Scotia later this year, according to people familiar with the matter, as Canada’s largest natural gas producer shifts production toward more oil. The company’s shares rose.

Encana is working with financial advisers as it explores a sale, which may raise $1 billion to $2 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information. The Calgary-based company could begin a formal process in the coming months, with a transaction expected before the end of the year, said one of the people.

There is no guarantee a sale will occur at this point.

“We only provide comment on transactions once they’ve been confirmed,” said Jay Averill, a spokesman for Encana who declined to comment further.

Encana is selling off assets and purchasing new ones in an effort to rebalance its portfolio in higher-priced oil and gas liquids. The company has announced $7.3 billion in deals since the start of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

The stock climbed 1.4% to C$23.23 at 4 p.m. in Toronto, after jumping as much as 3.1%.

SBM Offshore NV, which operates Deep Panuke on behalf of Encana, started production at the project in December after three years of delays. Gas produced from Deep Panuke about 250 km (155 miles) southeast of Halifax on the Scotian Shelf is processed offshore and transported through a subsea pipeline to Goldboro, Nova Scotia, where is connects with the Maritimes and Northeast Pipeline that supplies the U.S. Northeast.

Offshore Asset

Deep Panuke contributed more than 30% of Encana’s operating cash flow of about $1.1 billion in the first three months of the year, due to higher spot prices for gas in the U.S. Northeast triggered by a winter cold snap. The project delivered about 253 million cubic feet of gas a day in the first quarter, or about 9% of Encana’s total production.

The company didn’t expect the strong prices that benefited Deep Panuke in the first quarter to continue throughout the year, Mike McAllister, COO, said on a May conference call.

Still, it is Encana’s only offshore asset and also doesn’t produce the oil or higher-value gas liquids that Encana is seeking. Deep Panuke, “doesn’t really fit in our portfolio,” CFO Sherri Brillon told an investor conference in January.